Considering we only have 7 acts left, is it fair to have a double elimination this late?

Only four will be announced through which means the last three all risk being booted out.

But the person who has polled the 5th highest amount of votes may be quite ahead of the bottom 2 and still be thrown out - despite having more fans/supporters.

No, it's not fair. The judges' vote should be scrapped well before this also.

It's not unfair, but it's not an ideal situation for anyone. They left it far too long to do the third double.

I agree, they should have sorted out all the double eliminations early on. It's quite obvious they are making it up as they go along. When voting percentages are released, we will see exactly why they keep changing their minds.

Of course it's not fair. I suppose the only thing is, that someone who comes 5th this week was probably unlikely to win it anyway.

It's just another example of the heavy-handed manipulation of X-Factor.

They should of stuck to the original plan where weeks 1-4 were doubles

that is exactly right. making it up as they go along and changing the rules to suit their purposes

completey unfair

It was put off this long to keep saving Katie for no purpose whatsover- couldn't they just have let her go on the tour anyway- Simon makes it up as he goes along anyway

and now a decent act like Mary is going to end up under a bus

was sad about the lovely Paije who I always rated- loved his voice

will be very sad about Mary as she is one of the few decent singers left and this has to be her last chance at this stage

fair or not, if it means that Katie the cockroach is finally crushed, I will be happy

I don't see an issue with a double elimination at this stage at all - and I'm saying that as a Katie fan, and I'm sure a double elimination makes her very unsafe this week

If the final is the usual 3 acts then there will have to be another double elimination next week as well or is the final going to be four acts?

I think it's better than getting rid of them all early. Keeping as many acts for as long as they can gives the contestants lots of invaluable experience on the stage performing infront of millions of people.

I think when they release the voting figures it will be apparent why they changed their plans. Some acts were obviously not doing as well in the voting in the first 4 weeks.

Let's wait and see : I'm very hopeful Mary will be in the top 4.The voting leaks I've heard in recent days (not Abigail's) suggest she is in with a fighting chance of avoiding the elimination zone.

By taking part in the show, the contestants are showing that they are willing to "do what ever it takes" to win - they're all lucky to have made it so far. I stopped voting weeks ago, as the judges override the viewer's vote time and time again. Fair?? Tbh, I could not care less...